A few of the results on the weekend highlight the importance of player motivation and the trap that teams can fall into by being a little bit off their game.

At this time of the year the bottom teams do not have much to play for apart from pride and their own individual careers. Teams fighting to stay in the eight can slip up when they begin to think too far ahead and start thinking about finals. Maybe some of this may explain how Richmond could have beaten Collingwood on the weekend.

Similarly in our game after leading by as much as eight goals in the third quarter we were trailing Carlton at three-quarter-time. In our discussions this week we felt that our intensity and focus dropped off in that period, which you cannot get away with at this level.

Players are motivated by different things and it is when the individual can motivate themselves that it works best. Some players…
  • Like to be set challenges and tasks by the coaches. They are extremely competitive and take it personally when they fail.
  • Just want the team to win. They will do whatever they can to help the team get across the line. Personal performances are put to one side and replaced by the team’s win-loss ratio.
  • Are statistically minded. They like to set themselves goals based on stats and strive to achieve them. These could be anything from kicks and handballs to chases and tackles.

    When players struggle to find their own individual motivation they respond best to sprays from the coach. Some good old-fashioned screaming, some choice words and a point of the finger are exactly what some players’ need. We saw this at three-quarter-time when Choco had a bit to say.

    Regardless of the players basis for motivation everybody has to be on the edge before they leave the rooms. Changerooms are now filled with ipods as players now spend their final hours before a game listening to their own personal motivational music. If you were to walk past at this time you would hear a combination of hip-hop and dance from Motlop and the Burgoynes or rock and heavy metal from Pettigrew and C. Cornes.

    On occasions at team meetings motivational videos are shown. These videos can vary from our own highlights packages played to music, to an inspiring passage from a movie. Personally I love watching footage showing desperate tackles, chases, dives and marks backed by an upbeat song to inspire, and get the shivers down the spine.

    My favourite motivational movie moment is a speech delivered by Al Pacino in “Any Given Sunday”. He talks about football being a game of inches, and it is the team that is willing to do everything they can for that inch that will win the game.

    Motivation is a personal thing. Players respond to different things. Whatever it is, we have to make sure we are ready, because if we aren’t we will lose! Just ask Collingwood.

    mahns